“THEY’RE HIDING UPSTAIRS… PLEASE HURRY.”

Inside the 43-Second 911 Call From the Louisiana House of Horror

In the early morning darkness of April 19, 2026, a quiet residential street in Shreveport, Louisiana, became the site of one of the most devastating family tragedies the United States has seen in years.

Before police arrived.
Before the victims were counted.
Before investigators even knew the name of the man responsible.

There was only a phone call.

A desperate voice whispering into a 911 line.

“They’re hiding upstairs… please hurry.”

The call lasted just 43 seconds, but what dispatchers heard during those moments would later become one of the most chilling pieces of evidence in a case that left eight children dead and an entire community stunned.

A Quiet Neighborhood Before Dawn

The shooting unfolded just before 6 a.m. in the Cedar Grove neighborhood of Shreveport, when residents were still asleep and the streets were nearly empty.

Authorities say 31-year-old Shamar Elkins launched a violent spree that stretched across two homes within minutes. The attack began at one residence on Harrison Street, where a woman believed to be his ex-wife was shot and seriously wounded.

But that was only the beginning.

After the initial shooting, investigators say Elkins took three children with him and drove to another house on West 79th Street — a location where more family members were staying.

Inside that home were several young children, most of them asleep.

Within minutes, the quiet neighborhood was shattered by gunfire.

The 911 Call That Froze Dispatchers

According to investigators, the emergency call came from inside the home while the chaos was still unfolding.

A wounded woman — believed to have been shot during the attack — managed to reach a phone and dial 911.

What dispatchers heard next was terrifying.

Her voice was weak and shaking.

In the background, muffled noises could be heard — movement, shouting, possibly gunshots.

Then came the words that investigators say have haunted the case ever since:

“They’re hiding upstairs… please hurry.”

Authorities believe she was referring to several children who had run upstairs in an attempt to escape the gunman moving through the house.

The caller reportedly told the dispatcher that the shooter had already left the immediate area, but the situation inside the house was catastrophic.

Seconds later, the call abruptly cut off.

When Police Arrived

When officers reached the home on West 79th Street, they encountered what Shreveport police later described as a scene of unimaginable horror.

Eight children — ranging in age from 3 to 11 years old — had been shot and killed.

Seven of them were the gunman’s own children.
The eighth was a relative.

Authorities later identified the victims as:

Jayla Elkins, 3
Shayla Elkins, 5
Braylon Snow, 5
Kayla Pugh, 6
Khedarrion Snow, 6
Layla Pugh, 7
Markaydon Pugh, 10
Sariahh Snow, 11

Some of the children were found in their beds.
Others appeared to have been shot while trying to flee.

One was discovered on the roof of the house — suggesting a desperate attempt to escape.

The Child Who Jumped From the Roof

In the middle of the carnage, one child survived.

Authorities say a 13-year-old boy escaped by climbing out onto the roof and jumping to the ground, suffering broken bones but managing to survive.

Another adult and a young girl also jumped from the roof while fleeing the house.

Investigators believe the victims were trying to escape the gunman moving through the rooms below.

The roof may have been their only exit.

The Suspect: Shamar Elkins

Police soon identified the suspect as Shamar Elkins, a 31-year-old former member of the Louisiana Army National Guard.

To neighbors and acquaintances, he had appeared to be a father trying to hold his life together.

But investigators say Elkins was facing intense personal turmoil.

Reports indicate he was in the middle of a separation from his wife and was scheduled to appear in court related to the dispute the very next day.

Friends later revealed he had been deeply distressed about the relationship falling apart.

One relative recalled him saying he did not want to lose his family.

A Rampage Across Two Homes

Police say Elkins shot a total of 11 people during the attack, including two adult women who survived with serious injuries.

After the killings, he fled the scene.

Investigators say he carjacked a vehicle and sped away, triggering a multi-agency police chase across the region.

The pursuit ended in nearby Bossier City, where officers confronted him.

Elkins was ultimately killed during the confrontation with police.

A Disturbing Digital Trail

As detectives began digging into the suspect’s background, troubling details started to emerge.

Weeks before the killings, Elkins had reportedly posted disturbing messages online suggesting regret about the relationships that led to his children.

In one post, he allegedly wrote that he wished he could “go back and have kids with a different woman.”

Investigators are now analyzing those posts, along with phone records and digital evidence, to determine whether the attack was planned in advance.

The Pattern of a “Family Annihilation”

Experts say the case bears the hallmarks of what criminologists call family annihilation — a rare but devastating type of crime in which a parent kills multiple family members.

These cases often follow a pattern:

Domestic conflict
Financial or emotional stress
A relationship breakdown
A sudden eruption of violence

In many cases, the perpetrator sees the attack as a twisted way of maintaining control or preventing a family from moving on without them.

But investigators say the full motive in this case is still unclear.

The Detail Investigators Can’t Ignore

Among the many pieces of evidence collected from the scene — shell casings, surveillance footage, and witness statements — detectives say the 911 call remains one of the most important clues.

Not just because it captured the chaos.

But because of what was said in the final seconds.

Officials have not publicly released the full audio recording, but investigators confirmed that three words spoken just before the call ended caught their attention.

Those words may indicate someone else moving inside the house — or a final attempt by the caller to warn others.

Authorities have not revealed exactly what those three words were.

But detectives say they could help explain the final moments inside the home before police arrived.

A City in Mourning

The massacre has shaken Shreveport to its core.

Local leaders called it “the worst crime the city has ever seen.”

Neighbors gathered outside the home in the days after the attack, leaving stuffed animals, candles, and handwritten notes.

For many residents, the hardest part to comprehend is that most of the victims were children who never had a chance to escape.

What Investigators Are Still Trying to Answer

Even with the suspect dead, the investigation is far from over.

Authorities are still trying to determine:

• Why the attack began that morning
• Whether Elkins planned the killings in advance
• What exactly happened in the minutes between the 911 call and the gunman leaving the house
• And what those final three words on the emergency call actually mean

For detectives, that last detail could reveal something crucial.

Because in crimes like this, sometimes the smallest fragments of audio — a whisper, a background sound, a final sentence — can unlock the truth.

And in this case, investigators believe the final moments of that 43-second 911 call may hold the key to understanding what really happened inside that Louisiana home